


Cross-Cultural

by celestial_light



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, clone toddlers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:26:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27992982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestial_light/pseuds/celestial_light
Summary: When the Wolfpack makes a stop at Kamino to pick up new troops, General Plo entertains himself with clone cadets.orThe cadets make use of Plo's mask, much to Wolffe's dismay.
Relationships: Plo Koon & Shaak Ti, Plo Koon/CC-3636 | Wolffe
Comments: 8
Kudos: 118





	Cross-Cultural

**Author's Note:**

> I've always liked the idea of the Jedi using themselves as educational prompts for clone cadets. Considering all they know of aliens is the Kaminoans and bounty hunters, I like to imagine they like to let the cadets know they aren't all bad. 
> 
> Also I wanted to highlight mental illness and disorders amongst the clones :D Mainly with Wolffe and a few other clone characters.

Wolffe isn’t particularly fond of this--never has been. Adding new members to the Pack, clones or not, has never been Wolffe’s cup of tea. Since the  _ Malovenance _ , and the eventual inclusion of another platoon, Wolffe had gone through the painstaking task of moving forward with his role as a commander, burying the memories of his dead brothers as he was forced to welcome hundreds of other men into his pack. 

Wolffe has nothing against his men, they’re all brothers after all. But he has something against the timing of it all--the lack of decency and proper mourning. Plo had stepped in where he could, but GAR wanted them back in action not a month later. 

This isn’t the same though, and all in all, Wolffe has learned to cherish and love all of his new brothers. They have warmed a space in his heart where the  _ Malevolence  _ had iced it over. 

Today is...General Plo’s idea. An impromptu, sloppy attempt to save a batch of defective clone from eternal latrine duty. Plo knew the rules, under no circumstance was he to bring other members into the pack without Wolffe’s consent. And technically, he didn’t. But when he walked into the Commander’s office, head lowered and fingers twiddling against one another, Wolffe knew that the General was about to push his luck considerably. 

The 104th is known for their defect rate--courtesy of Wolffe. But Plo would have them known as the battalion who took on defective clones. 

It isn’t a bad label--not when Wolffe is considered defective by Kamonian standards (and that has  _ little  _ to do with his eye). But these guys--these guys are pushing it. One look at their rap sheet told Wolffe everything he needed to know-

-CT: 8767 Follows directions, literally ( _ But he is great at paying attention to detail, Commander. We just have to work with him) _

-CT: 8909 Problems with authority and doing what he thinks is right ( _ Like Sinker, Commander) _

-CT: 9987 Shell shocked--refuses to speak ( _ I’ve been needing an assistant to go over old Jedi holocrons with me. I think he’d do wonderfully).  _

Still--it takes some convincing, and Plo argues a hell of a case. Because Wolffe loves his brothers,  _ and  _ because he loves them doesn’t know if this will be the best placement for them. 

But Plo wouldn’t have come to him with this if these troopers didn’t want this, and eventually the commander relents.

And now Wolffe finds himself surveying a new batch of shinnies, near identical faces staring directly at him. The General has excused himself from initial introductions, believing it best if Wolffe receives his men  _ without  _ the presence of a Jedi. They’re meeting now as brothers, and later on as soldiers. Plo doesn’t wish to intrude on the former. 

Wolffe doesn’t protest, especially considering hsi general is correct. 

\--

The meeting goes well, better than expected. The problems present  _ immediately,  _ but nothing that he and his Pack can’t handle. CT-8767, Benji’s “following directions literally” is nothing that can’t be applied to their engineering team. Wolffe also sees himself in the shinny. He likes to think he’s grown out of it, but just last week Wolffe had to question Plo’s, “Break a leg,” comment. 

CT-8909, Charger, definitely has authority problems. But they’re not bad. Questioning everything isn’t bad. Just the mannerism in which he does it needs...work. He’ll be a good prodige for Sinker.

CT-9987, Shell-Shocked (which is his actual name) is just as the report stated. He doesn’t say a word when Wolffe addresses him, though his friends are quick to fill in and translate his signs*. Though to their surprise, Wolffe responds with signs of his own (he picked it up after he lost his eye). 

Needless to say, Wolffe loads the new shinnies up on the transport feeling lighter than he had when he’d arrived. He’d have to thank the general later on. The Kel Dor was getting better at knowing his ticks. 

\--

Tracking down the general was not a complicated task. Though not for the reason Wolffe had intended for it to be. As always, when in Kamino, the old Kel Dor often gravitates towards the cadets. His fondness for children can be blamed on both his incredibly large heart as well as his species. Kel Dor were incredibly parental, and dangerously protective of their young. Between Shak-Ti and Plo, the cadets often got a lesson in cross cultural child rearing. 

Whereas General Ti encouraged the clone cadets to go explore, Plo never let them out of eyesight. 

Until today, apparently. 

All at once, a hurling mass of energy connects with his knees, and for all his time in battle, the commander struggles to stand. He bites his tongue to stifle a shout, agony radiating from his leg as the trooper below him gathers his barings. It felt like something stabbed him. 

“Kid, are you running with a kn--”

Wolffe’s jaw drops the moment he takes a good look at the trooper. The boy below him is a spitting image of Rex, blond buzz cut and wide honey eyes. He’s no older than five, it looks like. So the mask hanging on his face nearly falls to the ground. But with chubby, sticky hands, he manages to keep it in place. 

“It makes me sound funny when I take it off.” He illustrates this briefly, holding the mask from his face and greeting Wolffe in the same breath, his voice high as helium coats his lungs, “But that doesn’t make sense, because Mas-”

“Kid, where is the alien that the mask belongs to?”

“Oh, he’s with my other brothers in the cafeteria. They wanted to see his tusks, and he said I could try on his--”

Wolffe gently takes his brother by the hand, increasing his pace expeditiously towards the cafeteria. Beside him, the cadet chatters away about how cool it would be to have tusk. All the while, Wolffe strains to keep his cool. 

He makes it to the cafeteria within seconds of meeting the boy, momentarily shocked by the troopers hanging on Plo’s actual tusk. It isn’t often that Wolffe sees them, considering he keeps the mask on. The others make themselves busy with General Ti’s montreals. By the general’s rigid form, Wolffe can tell he’s holding his breath, though his relaxed expression tells Wolffe he is enjoying himself. 

“So you don’t eat anything with them?” Almost disappointed, the cadet in Plo’s lap gives a cautious tug at one of the tusks, “So they’re just for decoration?”

“Most likely a vestigial structure,” General Ti chimes in, fully aware that speaking is near impossible for the Kel Dor. Still, he nods animatedly in agreeance. 

“They’re certainly not for you cadets to be pulling on.” All gasp in unison as Wolffe steps into the view, “oohs and ahhs” at the sight of his scar and cybernetic eye. 

“General, I believe this is yours?” He has managed to disarm the boy of the mask in the midst of his haste to the cafeteria, and crossed the room to return it to his general. 

“Thank you commander,” somewhat strained, Plo speaks between adjusting the metal apparatus, “I couldn’t help it.”

The children look in awe as the mask clips back on, watching the Kel Dor stuff his tusk roughly behind the metal. 

“There are other ways to educate kids, Sir.” Wolffe doesn’t even sound disappointed, just exhausted. 

“I like taking a forward approach,” Plo defends from the pile of cadets who have now grabbed at the mask, “It’s not often they get to see non-humans aside from their training. I want them to know we're not all dangerous.”

Wolffe sighs. There is much truth to that statement. Wolffe would be lying if he said his original weariness of his general didn’t come from his species. The bounty hunters, the Kaminoans, allexcept Jango were non-human. And like Jango, they tormented him and his brothers. 

Until General Ti, all non-humans had been violent to them. Even accepting General Ti was an uphill battle for the older troopers. 

“I can hold my breath long enough to let cadets pass my mask around,” Plo adds, “There’s no danger with children, Commander.”

Wolffe knows he’s right, but anxiety is a constant companion of the commander. 

“I know, I know.” He grumbles, taking a seat beside his general. All attention turns to his cybernetic eye, and before he knows it, he’s been berated by question from the cadets. 

**Author's Note:**

> *I have a headcanon that the clones have their own sign language based off of military signs, but they’ve thrown in casual conversational pieces into it. 
> 
> Also Plo is literally walking around like Wolffe’s intern in here XD 
> 
> Also Wolffe is autistic, with anxiety which explains why he's how he is in the story. Shell-shocked is mute due to trauma he's experienced.


End file.
